PHOENIX — The Phoenix Suns have a remarkable consistency that is the main source of a league-leading record, improved to 61-14 on Sunday after a 114-104 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Two stats that reflect this, applied Sunday, the Suns are now 45-0 when leading through three quarters and 44-0 when keeping opponents under 110 points.
Suns guard Devin Booker often speaks of a “attrition” effect his team is having.
Philadelphia was outstanding in the first half, leading by just four. Phoenix would most likely keep their level of play stable and maybe even get better. Forward Jae Crowder said the group never panics and they communicate a lot during half-time and in different corners of the game to stay on point.
The question is always whether the Suns opposition can hold enough and the 76ers can’t.
They lost a few strides on defense and offensive execution took a major hit as James Harden’s lack of aggression reared his ugly head again, a trend in his short tenure so far at Philadelphia.
Harden was 2-of-11 from the field and the Suns were particularly defensive in the third quarter, giving the 76ers a second-half total of just 40 after 39 points in the first quarter. Philadelphia (46-28) could put some key Suns players in trouble in the first half, but danger in playing free-throw play increasingly depends on the whistle, and that bit the 76ers in the butt on Sunday.
“I think we just started defending without fouling and withstanding the glass. … We knew we had to cut that and the second chance points, and we did that,” Booker said of the turn of the game.
Sunny Wings Mikal Bridges has given Harden seizures this season. Harden, a 10-time All-Star, ends the regular season with a 12-for-45 (27.6%) mark in three appearances against Phoenix.
“James is Hall of Famer, MVP, but Mikal just made it difficult for him with his length. … Mikal’s defense allows the rest of us to stay home and that’s a huge weapon for us,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said.
The 76ers’ slight drop was enough of an opener for the Suns to take a five-lead lead with a quarter to go before extending their lead to 11 with less than eight minutes left. Affected by Harden and a limping Joel Embiid trying to get rid of an apparent ankle tightening in the third quarter, Philadelphia’s energy waned.
In a rare slip in the Suns’ record, so did they, leading to an 8-0 run by the 76ers before Phoenix quickly reset and once again dominated the clutch minutes, scoring six of his next seven possessions to wrap up the game .
“It’s difficult. If we play the way we play consistently for 48 minutes and leave it out of other people’s hands, we have our own destiny in our hands,” Booker said. “We know over the course of 48 minutes that there will be ups and downs but if we do what we do we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
Booker had a season-high 22 points in the first quarter and finished with 35 on 13-of-22 shooting.
Chris Paul continued to look like Chris Paul in his second game in over a month, contributing 19 points and 14 assists.
Harden had 14 points and nine assists while Embiid had 37 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.
Philly would have had a chance on a better shooting night, posting a 10-of-36 clip (27.8%) from 3-point range against a Suns defense that was okay if they focused too much on the both stars of the 76 fixed and recovered to the shooters.